Sabah commercial gas deposits?

Opinion Published on: Saturday, March 02, 2013 By: David Lee  A QUARTER of Sabah's land area is underlain by shale and mudstone. The Trusmadi and Sapulut Formations together covering about 10,000 square kilometres in central and southern Sabah have the highest percentage of shale. The Trusmadi Formation has been described by a government geologist (Collenette) as containing "predominance of dark argillaceous (shale) rock." "Both formations are of Eocene to Lower Miocene age or about 50 to 15 million years old. Other formations in the East Coast around Dent Peninsula also have significant amount of shale and mudstone. Gas seepages have been observed in many places underlain by shale formations particularly in the Dent Peninsula (Haile and Wong) and the West Coast around Klias Peninsula and off-shore islands (Wilson). Gas seepages were also observed in the Kalabakan River Valley. Geologists have long known that considerable amounts of gas of various types have been generated by shale rock during its formation and subsequent 'ageing'. Most od the gas is trapped in the shale beds. Some of it in escaped through fissures giving rise to seepages observed on the surface. Many countries around the world also have shale rocks formations. Some countries have been tapping gas from shale rock for years. United States, by virtue if its size has vast areas underlain by this energy source rock. It has the most advanced drilling and extracting technologies to tap the huge energy resource in the country. The magic word "fracking", a method of fracturing the rock to release the gas has become a household word to many Americans living in the shale rock states from Texas to Pennsylvania. It has been predicted that by about 2020 United States would be self-sufficient in oil and gas. Other countries developing this shale rock energy in a big way are China and Australia. The whole energy-hungry world is awakened by the excitement generated by gas from shale rock. It will be the energy that drives the world around for the next two hundred years and the energy equation will be forever changed. Land and any mineral resources found in it is state matter. Sabah should take the initiative to do some research on its shale rock as a potential source of commercial gas. If sufficient shale gas is found in the interior it could at least be used to generate electricity which today still eludes the people living in remote kampongs under which shale rock occurs. If a gas industry is developed it could create jobs for the interior people as well. Gas is a favoured energy source for many countries because it is 50pc less polluting than coal. It is traded internationally and the north Asian countries like Japan, South Korea and China import a lot of gas for their industries. Many countries which had planned to produce energy from nuclear plants have abandoned the idea. They are now switching to gas.